Aymestrey School, Worcester

_The Malvern Years 1909-1922 (Aymestrey House)

Aymestrey House opened its doors in September 1909, in Malvern Link, on Worcester Road, just up the hill from the station. There were 6 boys (Ben Bassett, Richard Colley, John Hind, Ian MacGregor, John Mitchell Withers, and Kenneth Riddell), all from Yorkshire, where ‘Sir’ (Maurice Nightingale Asterley) had started another school in Sheffield 5 years earlier. (One of the houses at that school, Birkdale, is still called Asterley).

Aymestrey House got its name from the village of Aymestrey, where Sir met ‘Tief’ (Edith Mary Coates). They married in 1905 and DAN (Duncan Alfred Nightingale Asterley) was born in May 1909, just before the move from Sheffield to Malvern.

Dan, with Joseph and John Eyton Coates
(Courtesy of John and Carol Coates)

In October 1909 numbers increased by 2, as Tief’s nephews Joseph (6½)
and John Eyton Coates (4) joined the household.Joseph joined the school, but as John Eyton was too young he
joined Dan in the nursery.John Eyton
Coates remained closely involved with the school until it closed.

Joseph and John Eyton Coates at Aymestrey House.
(Courtesy of John and Carol Coates)

Aymestrey House 1910 (Courtesy of John and Carol Coates)

_The first match, in February 1910, was a seven-a-side game because there
were only 9 boys in the school and two of those were Dan and John
Eyton!Numbers increased slowly - in 1911 there were eleven boarders, an assistant schoolmaster (Mr Snowden), and sisters Ethel and Margaret Barnesby as school Matron and nanny to Dan and John Eyton. Ethel, also known as Miss E, Miss Ethel, or Tettie, stayed with the school as Matron until she retired in 1946.

_The Eton Collar was worn on Sundays – this continued until 1938.

The
traditions of “Bust Up” at Christmas and camp in the summer started at
Malvern.

In 1919 it was found possible to have a cricket match between ‘Relations’ and the rest of the school which numbered just over 30 in those days. The ‘Relations” included Mr & Mrs Asterley and Dan, Stokes, Sergeantson, Noel Sharp, Eyton Coates, and myself – quite a team!”Alfred Morcom OAA1919-1924

The December magazine of 1920 reported on blackberrying in Cowleigh Wood. Picnics and outings were an important part of school life and the custom was that the July term finished with a picnic on British Camp. But in 1920 the combination of a wet July and a measles epidemic meant there were only 2 picnics!

The Aymestrey Magazine started in July 1920, and for the first 10 years it was produced three times a year. Early editions were produced for sale.

The June picnic of 1920 at British Camp involved a trip in the “Yellow Peril” ‘Woodyatt’s sumptuous Yellow Motor Char-a-banc, with a Jacob’s ladder arrangement of seats. Very comfy ! and very thrilling !’

By 1922 the school had 35 pupils and had outgrown the house, prompting the move to much larger premises – Crown East Court – just west of Worcester.